


Trying to belong

by CharvelleTrash



Series: 13 Ships, 13 Fluffy Tropes [1]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Monsters, F/F, Fluff, Minor Willow Rosenberg/Tara Maclay, POV: Faith Lehane, Seven Minutes In Heaven, Spin the Bottle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-23
Updated: 2016-09-23
Packaged: 2018-08-16 22:55:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8120770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharvelleTrash/pseuds/CharvelleTrash
Summary: Faith is invited to Cordelia's 16th Birthday Party and not only that she has no fun at all - she also has to play Seven Minutes in Heaven with the way too hot Buffy Summers.





	

**Author's Note:**

> If you see a mistake, please tell me! I'm still working on my English skills.^^

"I have a great idea!“

Just when Faith thought it couldn't get any worse.

"Let's play seven minutes in heaven!“, Cordelia shrieked with a wide, toothpasty smile.

Faith looked around and saw some faces that were as bored as she was, but they all seemed to have at least some fun or enjoyable time while Faith just wanted to leave this place as fast as possible.

She didn't even know why she had been invited in the first place. She didn't really belong to this group of friends and probably someone just pitied her and had forced Cordelia to invite Faith to her oh-so-cool-and-trendy 16th birthday party.

And now she was sitting in a circle on the floor next to Oz and Xander who discussed different music equipment (basically Xander just talked nonstop and Oz nodded and sometimes said "Yeah“ or "Probably“); next to them sat Cordelia and happily adjusted the bottle they wanted to spin in the middle of their circle.

Willow and Tara only had eyes for each other - they practically sat on each other's lap, held hands and giggled constantly.

It really annoyed Faith while she forcibly ignored that little sting of jealousy in her chest.  
Not that she liked either Tara or Willow - but to see them being so affectionate and loving with each other made Faith wonder how it was like to have a romantic relationship with someone.

Just at this thought, her view wandered ahead and her eyes locked with Buffy's who sat next to Willow.  
They stared at each other for a little too long and Buffy had a blank, if not stern expression.  
She then frowned a bit and finally looked away.

Oh great.  
Not only that she didn't enjoy one stupid second of this stupid party, now Buffy Summers also seemed to hold a grudge against her.  
As if Faith had not enough problems.  
For example the fact that she thought that Buffy was really, really hot.  
And that she secretly had hoped to maybe talk to her tonight.

But no. Buffy didn't really seem interested.

Whatever.

She suddenly (and luckily) was distracted by Spike, who was in a heated fight with Angel, both of them sitting next to Buffy.

"It's bollocks, Angel!“, Spike said and exasperatedly threw his arms in the air.  
"It's your brand of bollocks from first to last.“

Angel looked angry as well and furrowed his brows.

"No, you can't ever see the big picture. You can't see any picture!“

"I am talking about something primal. Right? Savagery. Brutal animal instinct.“

"And that wins out every time with you. You know, the human race has evolved, Spike!“

"Oh, into a bunch of namby-pamby, self-analyzing wankers who could never hope to-“

"We're bigger. We're smarter. Plus, there's a thing called teamwork, not to mention the superstitious terror of your pure aggressors!“

"You just want it to be the way you want it to be.“

"It's not about what I want!“

"GUYS!“, Cordelia shouted and all their attention was on her.

"Seven Minutes in Heaven. NOW“, she demanded and both Angel and Spike would have been foolish to resist Queen C.

Anya, who was the person closing the circle and with whom Faith could identify a little bit because she also seemed to be annoyed by the people around her, eagerly grabbed the bottle and spun it around.

"Okay, now please point to someone hot because I'm really bored and really want to make out right now“, she said to the bottle and waited exitedly.

It finally came to a stop in front of Spike who tried to continue his discussion with Angel, but Anya just snatched him by the sleeve of his leather jacker and dragged him into Cordelia's huge closet.

"Have fun“, Cordelia yelled and Willow and Tara giggled again.

Angel who was now deprived of his debate partner, got up and turned the volume of the music up so none of them had to listen to eventual snogging noises from Spike and Anya.

"And so that we don't get bored in the meantime“, Cordy said as Angel sat back down between Buffy and Faith, "we play Spin the Bottle!“

Only Cordelia seemed to be exited about this, but they all still played along.

Faith was lucky and only had to kiss Angel and Tara - Angel felt like cardboard on her lips, while Tara gave her a sweet peck that tasted like cinnamon.

She caught Buffy looking at her after kissing Tara and she seemed kinda... hurt?  
Okay, now Faith was confused.  
Yes, she had a bad-girl-image of their school, but did Buffy think so little of Faith that she thought she would steal Tara's innocence with one kiss?

The next moment, Cordelia looked at her designer watch and shouted "Time's up!“

When she opened the closet doors, Faith heard shrieking, then laughter and Anya and Spike joined their circle again, both of them disheveled and out of breath.

"Next round!“

Faith hurriedly stood up.  
"Sorry guys, I have to pee“, she said and tried to sound as cool as possible.  
She probably failed but didn't care much as she left the enormous living room of Cordelia's equally enormous house and sought shelter in the guest bathroom.

She felt pathetic but nonetheless sat down on the closed toilet seat for exactly seven minutes before returning to the "party“.

She actually wanted to say goodbye and leave for good but as soon as Cordelia saw her, she pointed a finger at her and said "You cheated! Now it's your turn, Faith.“

She had a mean look in her eyes and now Faith was convinced that it hadn't been her idea to invite Faith in the first place.

Everyone was staring at her - except Oz and Xander who were both missing, so apparently they currently shared their seven minutes - and Faith was too tired and annoyed to pick up a fight, so she said "Fine“ and sat down again.

Cordelia gave her the bottle and Faith spun it around and it pointed to Buffy.

Oh.

Oh no.

If there was a god, he must hate Faith. How did she deserve this?!

Buffy looked simultaneously shocked but then got control over herself again and shrugged.  
"Better than with Angel, I suppose“, she said and went to the closet, leaving a hurt looking Angel behind.

Faith followed her with some distance.  
When Buffy opened the closet doors, she revealed Oz and Xander, both standing in the closet and still talking (=only Xander) about guitars or whatever.

Xander looked up and clapped his hands together.  
"Oooh, you're both next? Have fun, ladies!“

He winked and walked backwards out of the closet, Oz following him in his usual expressionless coolness.

Buffy rolled her eyes, stepped through the closet doors and closed them as soon as Faith was there with her, too.

There was an awkward silence between them.

Cordelia's closet was - like everything in this house - spacious and reeked of a lot of money. It was dark in here, but there was some light coming from under the doors, so Faith could make out some sweaters and blazer around her.

Buffy moved and sighed quietly.  
"One of Cordelia's feathery tops is sticking in my face“, she mumbled and sounded disgruntled.

Faith couldn't help but laugh.  
"Yeah, this is probably the worst closet we could be trapped in, regarding Cordelia's wardrobe.“

Buffy chuckled and Faith felt a little bit proud that she made her laugh.

Suddenly the music outside got louder and "I kissed a girl“ blasted through the closet doors. Faith groaned and innerly cursed Cordelia or whoever had this "funny“ idea (it was most definitely Cordelia).

Buffy cleared her throat and there was this awkwardness between them again.

"So... do you enjoy the party?“, Buffy finally asked and Faith looked up surprised.

She couldn't make out much in the darkness, but she saw Buffy's silhouette and apparently she was looking at her.

Faith shrugged. "Five by five. I'm not a big fan of home parties.“

"Okay... So you regret going?“

There was something in Buffy's voice that told Faith she wanted to know something specifically.

"Kinda. I mean, there are other things I could do on a friday night. Not that I hate everything here“ - Faith suddenly found herself justifying herself - "but I think I don't really belong here.“

"Maybe you should try. Give them a chance.“

Faith laughed humourlessly. "Oh yeah, because especially Cordelia is making it so easy for me.“

"She is just jealous.“

Faith raised her eyebrows doubtfully. "Jealous? Why?“

"'Cause you're the new, hot girl in school and she feels threatened. She wants to keep her throne, you know.“

There was pause, and Faith's brain might have had a short circuit.

"You think I'm hot?“

Faith felt Buffy shifting and couldn't help but grin, while a ridicoulos warm and fuzzy feeling filled her chest.

"Well, you know... You know what I mean.“ Buffy sounded really embarrassed and Faith thought it was cute.

"I mean, you could easily make friends“, Buffy said, changing the subject.  
"I saw how Xander was trying to make you laugh with one of this incredibly funny jokes.“

"He tried. I know, it's just... I'm not comfortable with people being close to me. I like to be alone.“  
The warm feeling turned into ice when she realized what she just said. When did this conversation become so personal? There were in a closet, dammit. This whole situation was ridicoulos.

"I know what you mean. But sometimes... it's just hard. That outsider feeling“, Buffy said and her voice wasn't more than a whisper.

"How would you know?“ The question came out harsher than she intended and Faith felt Buffy stiffen next to her.

"You're not the only one that doesn't really belong.“

Faith just waits for her to explain. How could Buffy Summers, the gorgeous cheerleader with her perfect blonde shampoo hair, possibly not belong?

"I just moved here last year. Like half a year before you came to our school. My parents got divorced and my mum wanted a fresh start. And I had some trouble, too, so... Nevermind. But I'm still trying to find my place here.“

Faith didn't know what to say. It was the first time she and Buffy had a conversation and they were already talking about her dark past.

"My folks split up, too, you know. Actually, my father left when I was three, but my mum's cool. We have to move a lot because she has trouble finding jobs, but we're okay. I just don't know how I should feel about Sunnydale. Everything's so... bright here.“

Buffy chuckled and Faith could see her nod.  
"Yep, good ol' California.“  
She paused and then said "I'm sorry 'bout your dad.“

"Don't worry, I hardly remember him. I'm probably better off without him.“

Then they were silent again and Faith tried to understand what was happening. She had a deep, touchy-feely conversation with Buffy about their families and past - in a closet. What.

"But Sunnydale's not that bad, I think“, said Buffy after a while and Faith was relieved that she was the one who broke the silence. Faith was afraid she would just say something stupid only to keep their conversation going.

"I mean, school is okay and although the town can be surprisingly dangerous sometimes, it's not like we're living on a hellmouth or something. I guess there's worse.“

Faith laughed. "Believe me, there is. I've seen places, you know.“

Buffy huffed. "I believe you. There is actually a rumour about you - saying that you lived in Detroit for a few months and worked for a drug cartell.“

"What? Seriously?“ Faith had guessed that her leather clothing and her dark make-up and probably her attitude made a fairly badass impression, but she didn't know people were seeing her as a criminal.

She laughed out loud and heard Buffy giggle, too.  
"That's insane! Just to clarify that: I've never done something criminal, B.“

Buffy looked at her as Faith used that nickname and Faith was glad that the closet was so dark so that Buffy couldn't see her blush.

"Well, if you want to join this circle of friends you'll probably never get involved in something illegal because they're too busy getting on each other's nerves.“ She laughed and her voice was full of affection for her friends.

"But they're cool. Okay, Cordelia can be a bitch, and Spike a jerk, and Angel can mope around a lot, and Anya doesn't know what tact is - but still, they're cool.“

Faith didn't know what to say and asked instead what she had thought about the whole evening.  
"But why was I invited? I don't even know them - or you. And Cordelia doesn't seem to be my biggest fan.“

Buffy awkwardly shifted on her feet and looked away and that was the answer Faith needed.  
"You convinced her, didn't you?“

"Um... Well, yes, okay, I did. I just thought you could use some friends. Being the new girl. And you sometimes looked a little bit lost and sad-“  
Buffy stopped and probably realized she said too much.

Suddenly there was not only the fuzzy feeling in Faith's chest, but also butterflies in her stomach and she had to concentrate to not squeal out of happiness right now.

Faith openend her mouth to say something but just in this moment the closet doors were wrenched open and the two girls blinked into the bright light.

"Times up!“ Cordelia's voice announced and Buffy stumbled out of the closet.  
Faith followed her, thinking that seven minutes were not enough to spend with Buffy in a closet.

Everyone cheered when they came back to the circle, but Faith really wanted to go home now. She was tired, and now confused, too, and although she wanted to stay for Buffy, Cordelia was really getting on her nerves and she needed quiet time alone.

"Okay guys, I gotta go. See ya. And thanks.“  
She waved and left the living room before anyone could stop her. She heard Willow and Tara say "Bye Faith!“ and then finally was outside.  
The cold night calmed her mind a bit and tried to sort her thoughts.

"Hey“, a voice said behind her.  
Faith jumped and spun around. Buffy smiled at her, her hands nervously intertwined.

"Just wanted to say goodbye to you properly.“ She paused, then looked at Faith and her heart skipped a beat. "I hope you had at least some fun.“

"The closet part was cool“, said Faith and put on her most flirtatous smile.

Buffy grinned and looked at her feet, blushing. Faith thought it was adorable.

"So … goodbye then“, Buffy said, came closer to her until she was standing right in front of Faith. She leaned forward and then quickly kissed Faith on the cheek.

"Bye“, Faith said and her voice was hoarse.  
Buffy darted one last look at her that was a mixture of flirty, shy and … happy. She then hastily went back to Cordelia's house.

Faith hummed to herself all the way back home.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr: honestlyhaunted.tumblr.com


End file.
